Investiture signals official installation of UAPB chancellor

Investiture signals official installation of UAPB chancellor

Laurence B. Alexander will be officially installed as the new chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff today in a 2 p.m. investiture ceremony at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.

UAPB spokeswoman Tisha Arnold said an investiture is “a ceremony of dignity with many academic traditions and protocols.”

The service will include an academic procession of delegates from other colleges and universitiies as well as UAPB faculty members. The chancellor’s medallion and university mace, charter and seal — as symbols of Alexander’s responsibilities at UAPB — will be conferred.

Alexander is UAPB’s sixth chancellor. Before coming to UAPB last year, he served as the associate dean of the University of Florida Graduate School, director of its Office of Graduate Minority Programs, a distinguished teaching scholar and a journalism professor. He has held several administrative positions during his education career.

A fellow in the 2012-13 Southeastern Conference Academic Consortium’s Academic Leadrship Development Program, the New Orleans native earned a bachelor’s degree in drama and communications from the University of New Orleans, a master’s degree in journalism and communications from the University of Florida, a law degree from Tulane University and a doctorate in higher education from Florida State University.

Arnold wrote in an investiture announcement that as a professor, Alexander taught more than 10,000 students and has received “significant awards, honors and recognition for his research and undergraduate instuction.” Before serving at Florida, he taught at Temple University and UNO.

Alexander served three terms on the UF Faculty Sentate and a term as a faculty representative on the boards of directors of the University Athletic Association and UF National Alumni Association. He has worked in the journalism profession for The New Orleans Times-Picayune and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Alexander is a member of International Communication, Modern Language, Education Law, American Bar and Louisiana State Bar associations and American Association for the Advancement of Science.